Lebanon has been undergoing buildings construction on a large scale which brings with it significant environmental impacts. Few investors and developers are engaging their businesses with some regard for the environment. Among the legitimate questions any one of us is raising, does sustainability matter to our developers and builders? Is there a green side to our buildings? What are the policy makers doing to ensure that the real estate balloon is not burst by its own severe and unsustainable impacts?

The architects, contractors, dealers, electro-mechanical engineers, all work at different tangents, with each one looking at his/her own short-term business interests. There is little coordination to weave green principles into this fabric.

Moreover, at the policy-making level, there is no coordinated government effort to sensitize builders and architects to environmental safeguards. It is also assumed that green buildings are automatically more expensive, whereas many green adoptions can actually save homeowners money in the long run.

Green buildings can be profitable and also demand less from the natural world. With power in short supply all over Lebanon, and demand rising rapidly still, the construction activity could be slowed greatly if the new buildings do not embrace green principles. Water is similarly a seriously neglected resource; its use is completely unregulated after subscribing. Emissions from buildings have grown exponentially over the last two decades compared to industry and transportation.

A group of engineers and architects joined efforts to establish the Lebanon Green Buildings Council, LGBC as the leading resource for education, advocacy and awareness of green building principals to reduce the barriers and misconceptions as it pertains to conventional methods and costs and to certify and rate environmentally friendly apartments and workplaces. Simple calculation of the cost of a green building would be two to four percent higher than a conventional building. However, over 20 years, its financial return could be 10 times higher as a green building could reduce energy consumption by as much as 30 percent. The concept of green buildings emphasizes increased efficiency in the use of electricity, water and building materials, from the design stage and construction through to maintenance.

LGBC will be a coalition of corporations, contractors, engineers, universities, and nonprofit organizations working together to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. We have a long way to go and we are up to the challenge.

I'd like to invite you to check back here periodically. We'll update this site as we continue to move on to achieve our objectives. And, if you happen to get to attend any meeting of ours, will be happy to discuss with you there about how our actions speak. I would like to welcome you again and would like to keep an extended invitation for you to join efforts to see Lebanon as equal to other developed countries valuing the benefits of green buildings.